The finale of The Shot aired tonight. Normally, when a reality show – especially a competition-format show – airs its finale, fans are frantically leaving comments for their favorites or their least favorite. But for The Shot? To use a reality show cliché, insert the sound of crickets chirping here.

So why the marked lack of interest in The Shot? After all, if America's Next Top Model was able to become a monster hit based on its highly unrealistic reality competition about modeling, and Project Runway cornered the market on fashion design, why didn't a show about fashion photography, completing the triumvirate, take off?

Earlier in the season, I posited one theory that maybe the central temperament of a photographer makes it difficult to truly be a compelling subject matter. After all, a skillful photographer must, in many ways, be a medium of sorts, the link between the audience and the visual subject matter of the clothing and the model. While certainly – as we saw in The Shot – it's not a discipline devoid of egomania, the act itself does require a particular kind of egolessness that might make it hard to hold the attention spans of the viewer.

Or, maybe the subject matter wasn't compelling because everyone takes pictures. Everyone can't be a fashion model, and everyone might not bother to make their own clothes, but it's hard to find a person who hasn't taken a picture of their own. While true fashion photography might be at a completely different level than the average holiday snaps we are used to taking, the home viewer might still feel like there's just not enough of a mystique around the process to be invested in the competition.

So what did you think? If you didn't watch the show, you probably didn't click through to read this, unless you were idly curious about who won. (If so, it was Maria and Dean in the final two, and Maria won out to take home the prize.) But if you tried The Shot but didn't return for subsequent episodes, what turned you off?



- Leslie Seaton, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
(Image courtesy of VH1)